Skip to main content

Made By A Fabricista: Peach Skin Penny Dress

Have you ever lost your sewjo, or just taken a long break from sewing after a really hard project? After spending months altering a wedding dress, I just needed a bit of a break from sewing. Alterations are not my cup of tea, so I treated myself to a well-deserved few weeks off.

After my sewing hiatus, I was ready to jump back in with a new sewing pattern I hadn't made before. The Sew Over It Penny Dress has been on my "have to make" list for a long time so it seemed like the perfect pattern to help me ease back into my usual sewing routine. 

After browsing the Fabric Mart website for the perfect fabric for my Penny Dress, I noticed this beautiful black, shadow blue, and off-white floral peach skin fabric. If you haven't worked with or worn peach skin fabric, you need to get some right away! It is the softest, most delightful fabric ever! It's lightweight and has a beautiful drape, but isn't see-thru!

In addition to my peach skin fabric, I also ordered some elastic, black pellon fusible interfacing, and the cutest little Kylie and the Machine labels! I've been eyeing up the "Circa 2022" labels for a while because I love the idea of dating my makes to be able to look back and know what year my me-mades are from! 

I didn't make any alterations to the Penny Dress pattern because I liked the way the pattern looked straight off of the printer. Since the bodice isn't very fitted and doesn't have darts or princess seams, I didn't even have to do a small bust adjustment. It's fun when you get to just sew a pattern without alterations! 

Everything went well while I was sewing my Penny dress until I went to insert the collar. The collar seemed to be about 3 sizes too large to fit into the bodice neckline and it just wasn't going to work! In an effort to try to fix whatever mistake I unknowingly made, I watched the free online Penny Sew Along. Unfortunately, it didn't help me discover what was wrong with the collar. 

Next, I joined the Sew Over It Facebook Group hoping that I would find another person who made the same collar mistake that I made. After a few searches of group posts, I found someone sharing about their issues with fitting the collar into the neckline. Thanks to this post, I discovered that I left out an important pattern piece in the bodice. I completely forgot to add the shoulder panel pieces that attach to the front and back bodice. No wonder the neckline and collar didn't fit! 

Feeling a bit like a crazy person and wondering how on earth I could have missed this important pattern piece, I spent about 30 minutes seam ripping in order to add these pieces to the bodice. Have you ever left out an entire pattern piece? I'm still not entirely sure how I managed that, but I'm so grateful for Facebook sewing community group members and their help! 

Once I added the shoulder panel pieces back in, the whole project came together really easily. It also came together rather quickly after the shoulder panel hiccup. I picked some beautiful mother of pearl buttons from my button stash, added my Kylie and the Machine label to the back facing, and attached the full circle skirt. 

I love how easy to wear this Penny Dress is. With the elastic waistband, loose-fitting bodice, and lightweight peach skin fabric, it could easily become my favorite dress to wear for hot summer days! 

It feels great to be back today sharing a new make with you after what feels like one of the longest stretches I've gone without sewing! Now that my sewjo is back, I know I'll be sewing up a storm in the new few weeks, perfect for using more of my Kylie and the Machine labels! 

SHAINA   @shaina_sews 


Unfortunately Fabric Mart Fabrics sell out quickly!
You can find similar fabrics by shopping the following category BLOUSEWEIGHTS.
You can shop our collection of Sew Over It patterns HERE.
And our selection of Kylie and the Machine clothing labels HERE.

Comments

  1. Beautiful! I love that dress!

    ReplyDelete
  2. So pretty, I like a nice shirtwaist dress. Great job!!

    ReplyDelete
  3. That's lovely. Nicely done.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Such a pretty dress and it is adorable on you. So glad you have your enthusiasm for sewing back in your life. Alterations can make for tedious times. Have a great summer.

    ReplyDelete
  5. What a lovely dress and it looks terrific on you! Glad your sewjo is back.

    ReplyDelete
  6. Absolutely gorgeous! You have created a beautiful garment that fits perfectly and flatters you!

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Thanks for leaving a comment! All comments are reviewed before posting to help us eliminate spam. Your comment will be posted within 24 hours.

Popular Posts You Might Like

Made By A Fabricista: Workwear Ready

I'm excited for my first post in 2023! At the beginning of the year, I recently went back to working in person so now I am looking to make and wear pieces that I can wear to work.  The goal is to be functional but also very fashionable since I am a fashion design professor. I saw this blue denim fabric and knew I wanted to make some pants; I just wasn’t sure what kind.  I decided to make Mimi G x Simplicity S8985 View B pants.  I liked the oversized flare look, I just made one slight modification to them by adding a pintuck along the front.  This was easy to add since the waistline was called to be slightly gathered to fit.  The fabric had a hand closer to linen and was very lightweight which was great and very satisfying to sew.  I lengthened the pants by 3” and finished with a 2” hem. The top I used Simplicity S9707.  It’s an oversized partial button down top.  I decided to create a high low hem by combining two different views.   I loved the print of the fabric but honestly as s

Made By A Fabricista: New Year, Same Me

Happy 2023 all! It’s a new year & I am back with a new Fabric Mart make. If you’re new here I am Macy & I love to make dresses (they’re my specialty). I enjoy sewing a variety of fabrics & shopping for them even more, but floral fabrics truly have my heart in a chokehold. If you’re returning visitor, thank you for coming! Today, I am sharing my brand new Simplicity 9642 make. I absolutely love this dress; I love the feel & movement of it, as well as the fabric. Fabric Mart had the most beautiful royal blue floral velour/velvet fabric & it paired perfectly with this pattern. The fabric has such beautiful flowers in the actual fabric that are: red, yellow, tans, & emerald green for the leaves. The fabric was remarkably easy to cut & sew with.  The 9642 Simplicity pattern has a fitted bodice & flared skirt. They have a variety of sleeves & lengths to choose from, but I chose View C. The sleeves have a series of pleats, which creates a “poof” like look. 

Made By A Fabricista: Spring into 2023 with Liberty of London!

Hi Fabricista Fans! I'm excited to be back with my first FabricMart project of 2023 and my second with Liberty of London Tana Lawn ! This fabric is so luxurious and wonderful to work with, I just can't pass it up whenever I see it come on sale! With such a high thread count, Liberty of London doesn't easily crush, and although it's 100% cotton, it's so flowy that it's perfect for billowy dresses, blouses, and skirts. With my $50 budget this month, I purchased 2 yards of Tana Lawn and made a Peony Patterns Rosemary Dress with inseam pockets for my youngest daughter. This is a gorgeous button down dress with long and short puff sleeve options. After cutting it out, I realized I had plenty leftover for a skirt for my eldest, so I whipped up the FREE Peony Patterns Apple Berry Skirt for her. Since she needed a top to go with it, I raided my stash for some additional fabric, and found a lovely eggshell Fabric Mart Rayon Lycra hidden away. (Don't worry, I still ha